New England Patriots: Winners and losers from the 2023 NFL Draft

New England Patriots: Winners and losers from the 2023 NFL Draft - BONUS!
Winner: Rhamondre Stevenson
Losers: The offensive interior

There were some light rumors that the Patriots were intrigued by Bijan Robinson, which would have added an interesting wrinkle to the offense but would have likely taken away carries from Rhamondre Stevenson, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in year two of his career last year.

They did not take Robinson obviously and did take a running back either. This was the right move, as a backfield of Stevenson and Robinson can be one of the best ones in the NFL and could help establish a strong running game.

I think the offensive interior are big losers of the 2023 NFL Draft. The Patriots took a whopping three interior OL players in the NFL Draft in Sidy Sow, Atonio Mafi, and Jake Andrews. Perhaps they weren't specifically targeting OL at this spot and merely went best player available, but man, this can't go unnoticed.

The Patriots have consistently fielded strong offensive lines but have never invested a ton of money into the unit. What if they are preparing for the eventual exits of Mike Onwenu and David Andrews? The two best players on the offensive line could land quite strong deals if they left the Patriots.

Andrews has two years left on his deal and Onwenu is entering the final year of his rookie deal. Maybe this is preparing for a year or two down the road if the Patriots aren't interested in paying either player.